Well done,

Thats a great looking boat, how does it sail?

Gareth

Cool color scheme Gato, and the boat really looks larger than 12 feet. Good looking boats, both of them!

On the last picture the trampoline looks a bit saggy? I prefer a tight trampoline, but have not seen a homebuilding option to get it as tight as on a Marstrøm Tornado.

Looking forward to hearing much more about both boats, the masts, handling, your thoughts etc!

Very nice Gato,

Can't wait for some windy photos with kids. Sure ages the Pixie Design. Does the Pixie have a new mast?

Nicely done Gato; beautiful scenery as well ; is that the archipelago ?

Wouter

Rolf, the tramp is just a temporary. The Pixie has a ply/carbon mast as the DS12. Wouter, thats deffenetly THE ARCHIPELAGO, puuurrfect for cats...
Will try to get you some windy pics soon...

I still think your idea of doing a camping trip on small (F12) cats (possibly with a fleet of young people/kids) is nothing short of inspired.

I much long to hear your evaluation of paddling these small boats and other abilities like easy launching and beaching.

Wouter

The F12 cats are all right for doing camping, even if the Pixie is better, more room to store things. As for paddling it's going surprisingly well, 3 knots without effort using a sea kayak paddel. As for the beaching and launching, well no problems, there is not much weight to carry, you even don't have to emty the stores.

We have been sailing the DS 12 under various conditions, everything from 0 to 25 knots of wind and as far as I can tell the boat is behaving well. It feels completely safe and easy to handle, no surprises there. I have still not managed to get some kids to sail it, so I can still not say how they feel about it.
As for the performance, (crew weight 75kgs) it doesn’t need much wind to get it up to 7,5-8,5 knots. The max speed logged with the GPS (no current) around 12 knots with only the main sail. We made a raid of 60 nautical miles with the “nice lady” on a Pixie 14 and it was a close race the Pixie a little bit faster (only main up).
It would be fun to have a V-shaped "old fassion" F12 made, as the F12 is underpowered I think it could put up a good race...

Is the Pixie noticeably wider then the F12 ?

If the F12 design c.q. specs is to be adjusted for such trips what would you change ?

Hull length platform width or trampoline size ? Etc ?

Wouter

What are the basic specs of the DS12 ?

Mast length
Sail area
ready to sail weight
Overall width
Overall length
etc.

We can learn alot from this experience gained with the DS12 and possibly optizime the F12 concept a little further.

Many thanks in advance !

Wouter

The Pixie is 220 wide, and that does make a difference putting up a tent, still the 2 meters is enough for the stability of the platform.
I would maybe add a small kite to benefit a little bit more going downwind.

The first kid in the world on the DS12! Crew weight 40kg, wind speed 15 knots.

Even more fun

In short, they just love it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Please, tell us more!
What about the boat speed? Was he faster than the Lasers visible in the background? Did he feel the boat overpowered or that a trapeze would be necessary? Any opinions?
Also, tell us about the kid: his age, previous multihull and dinghy experience, comments...

Gato, you bring a tear to my eye every time you post.

Trapese? he's not even hiking.

Well done, great hull shape, chines are good.

Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Post deleted by JeffS

Jeff,

I've just sent an email to the guy who does the metal work and will let you know when I do.

thanks for the photos Gato
I cant wait to build my boat
I am never going to sail my 420 again
Scarecrow when will my 008 kit be ready
my colours will be heaps better then Gatos
and I am going to call it watch out coming through
regards Maeve Southall